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Member Details

Sir Henry Watson PARKER, KCMG (1808 - 1881)

Member Photo
Date of Birth: 01/06/1808
Place of Birth: Lewisham, England
Date of Death: 02/02/1881
Place of Death: Richmond, Surrey, England
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Secondary Punishment Committee No.8 27 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 3 months 22 days
Audit of the Accounts of the Revenues Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4 months 7 days
Standing Order Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4 months 7 days
The Library Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4 months 7 days
The Library Committee 12 Aug 1857 18 Dec 1857 4 months 7 days
Member for Parramatta 10 Oct 1856 19 Dec 1857 1 year 2 months 10 days
Colonial Secretary 03 Oct 1856 07 Sep 1857 11 months 5 days
Premier 03 Oct 1856 07 Sep 1857 11 months 5 days
Additional Ministerial Department Committee No.12 20 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 6 months 27 days
Masters’ and Servants’ Acts Constitution Bill Committee No.8 13 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 7 months 6 days
City Commissioners’ Department Committee No.7 12 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 7 months 7 days
Audit of the Revenue Accounts Committee No.6 06 Aug 1856 18 Mar 1857 7 months 13 days
Petition of Peter Rawlings Committee No.5 04 Jun 1856 18 Mar 1857 9 months 15 days
Library Committee No.4 03 Jun 1856 18 Mar 1857 9 months 16 days
Standing Order Committee No.3 03 Jun 1856 18 Mar 1857 9 months 16 days
Appointed by Speaker’s Warrant 28 May 1856 18 Mar 1857 9 months 19 days
Governor General's Opening Speech 23 May 1856 23 May 1856 1 day
Member for Parramatta 29 Mar 1856 03 Oct 1856 6 months 5 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 29 Mar 1856 19 Dec 1857 1 year 8 months 21 days
Chairman of Committees 17 Oct 1851 29 Feb 1856 4 years 4 months 13 days In first Legislative Council
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 13 Oct 1851 29 Feb 1856 4 years 4 months 17 days Non-elective Member of the first Legislative Council
Chairman of Committees 17 May 1849 30 Jun 1851 2 years 1 month 14 days In first Legislative Council
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 08 Dec 1848 30 Jun 1851 2 years 6 months 23 days Non-elective Member of the first Legislative Council
Chairman of Committees 28 May 1846 20 Jun 1848 2 years 24 days In first Legislative Council
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 11 May 1846 20 Jun 1848 2 years 1 month 10 days Non-elective Member of the first Legislative Council
Political Party Activity
Community Activity
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Public servant; private means. Educated privately by Dr Waite, domestic chaplain to Princess Sophia of Gloucester. Advised to undertake sea travel for health, joined East India Co., visiting India, China, Cape of Good Hope. Then toured France, Holland, Belgium. No employment until 1837 when appointed private secretary to Governor Gipps. Arrived at Sydney with Gipps on 24 February 1838. Had extensive private means and built large house, Clovelly, at Watsons Bay. Crown trustee Australian Museum 1848, official trustee 1856-1857. Returned to England 1858, living at Stawell House, Richmond. Opposed Gladstone at Greenwich 1868. Commissioner of Sydney and Melbourne Exhibitions 1879, 1880. Estate proved at under £140,000. His wife was a sister of James and William Macarthur (also Members of the Parliament of New South Wales).
Military Service
Honours Received
Created a Knight in 1858. Appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG ) in 1877.
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Son of Thomas Watson Parker and his wife Mary Cornell. Married Emmeline Emily Macarthur on 21 November 1843 in New South Wales, youngest daughter of John Macarthur.
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5 David Clune and Ken Turner (Editors), The Premiers of New South Wales: Volume 1 - 1856 - 1901, The Federation Press, Sydney, 2006 [Chapter 3: "Parker, Henry", by Trevor McMinn, p. 55]